Radiation City at OPB

Radiation City makes a second stop by our studios to play from their newly-released sophomore record, Animals in the Median. It’s an assured, confident collection that finds the Portland quintet perfecting and expanding on the indie-bossa-soul sound they introduced on their 2011 debut— we talked to them about its recording, their disparate influences, and music as make-up sex.

Hear the entire session (performances + interview) below:

It would have been easy for Radiation City to make a sophomore record that covered the same territory traveled by their 2011 debut, The Hands That Take You. Moody and hazy yet easy to like, it was that record that introduced them to Portland and eventually beyond, garnering Willamette Week‘s Best New Band honor along the way (we were certainly among those taken with it, and featured the band in our studios in December 2011).

To their credit, the new Animals in the Median (just out on Tender Loving Empire) showcases Radiation City as a growing entity, and a multi-faceted one at that. Sounding much more like the work of a full band (Patty King, Randy Bemrose and Matt Rafferty having long since joined founding duo Lizzie Ellison and Cameron Spies), the new collection finds songwriting and lead vocal duties shared on what is an often upbeat and summery listen.

Radiation City hits the road for the end of May and all of June, returning to Portland for a hometown release show June 28th at the Wonder Ballroom.